Younger Naga generation adapting to Korean culture more than their own, says Study

Our Reporter
Dimapur, Oct. 14 (EMN): The younger Naga generation is adapting to Korean culture such as K-Pop, K-fashion, K-drama, and K-language more than their own culture, according to a study conducted in Dimapur.

The study was presented by Abeni Mozhui and Atshole Wetsah, assistant professors of Immanuel College, Dimapur, during the national seminar on “Role of Women in Preserving Cultural Heritage in North East India” held at Immanuel College on Thursday.

Speaking on the topic “Problems faced by the younger generation in preserving cultural heritage with special reference to Dimapur”, the duo said a study conducted on 230 women in 17-37 age group found out that ‘Korean culture is the most influential factor that leads to degrading of culture among the younger generation’.

Lack of values and social media are among the major factors contributing to degrading of culture among the young Naga women, they said while mentioning other factors like westernisation and lack of interest.

Sharing some of the problems faced by young women in preserving their cultural heritage, the professors cited ‘lack of opportunity to learn cultural activities, decline in the use of traditional crafts and traditional attires, preference of digital art over traditional art, lack of interest in learning or listening to traditional songs and music’.

Stressing on the need to preserve one’s culture, they suggested introduction of subjects related to cultural heritage in schools and colleges, saying that it can play a vital role in preserving and creating awareness among the younger generation.

On Naga Women’s Writing

Speaking on the topic, “Wayfinding: Locating Signposts in Naga Women’s Writing”, S Elika Assumi, independent researcher from Dibrugarh, stated that the writing works of Naga women in English run counter to the grain of history, and against the disempowering positions of hegemonic cultural constructs of Naga identity, both without and within.

“Generally, writing in English from the Northeast of India had been at the margins but it is beginning to foray into the Indian literary imagination in recent times,” she shared, adding that the region shares more in common with South and East Asia and has had a contentious history with the greater Indian nation, be it social, political, or even in terms of literature as well.

The writings in English from the Northeast are critiqued to be not cerebral, but rather accessible, in this sense, she said. “It can be argued that there is a situational context that pervades the emotional expressive writing in English from Nagaland which is emerging as a promising body of literature, given its literary difference in its correlations to the numerous socio-political issues of the state,” she added.

Further, she shared that there are narratives emerging in media, primarily on social media platforms such as YouTube shorts, Instagram reels, etc., while asking: ‘How do we engage with these new narrative forms which are being produced in various parts of Nagaland (and the North-East) by content creators without any formal training, without the condescension that we are so prone to?’

She also asked if these emerging narratives could point to a larger discourse that can be critically examined.